You Just Can't Run From Destiny
by PaceysLilMcPhee
Summary: Takes place after “Destiny.” Michael realizes he can’t run from his destiny anymore. M/M Candy fic


Title: You Just Can't Run From Destiny  
  
Author: Lauren  
  
Author's Email: PaceysLilMcPhee@aol.com  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Pairing: M/M Candy fic  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own. 'Nuff said.  
  
Summary: Takes place after "Destiny." Michael realizes he can't run from his destiny anymore.  
  
Author's Note: Feedback! It's essential to my existence! So please! Leave me some! I'll love you forever!  
  
Author's Note 2: Okay, so I had to read Oedipus in school last quarter, sometime in January I think. I wrote down this idea after reading it, deciding I liked the theme. Now, in March, I was itching to write a fanfic. I went through my ideas that I have written down on slips of paper and index cards. And I found this one. So here it is. It's short. And completed. I'm definitely leaving it where it is. I have two multi-chapter stories I need to work on right now. This was only a one parter that I just HAD to write! It helped me get into writing again. I haven't worked on my fics in a month. So anyway…Happy reading!  
  
  
  
Chapter 1/1  
  
  
  
1 "It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves." –William Shakespeare  
  
  
  
Michael walked into Roswell High, extremely late, but there nonetheless. It was 10:30am. The bell to change classes rang and students flowed out of the classrooms as they tried to get to their fourth period.  
  
"Might as well," Michael mumbled as he entered his fourth period, English. He didn't really want to talk to anyone at the moment. Apparently, that was okay with his other friends because neither Maria, Alex, or Tess said a word to him as he made his way to the last row and took a seat. He certainly hadn't expected Maria to talk to him. He'd been avoiding her since the whole Isabel thing. Actually he'd been avoiding Isabel too. And everyone else.  
  
After everyone was in their seats and the bell had rang, the teacher approached the front of the room.  
  
"Glad you decided to join us today, Mr. Guerin," she said, looking to the back of the room. "I guess you must have heard we're starting our unit on 'Oedipus the King' and didn't want to miss out. Now, here are the books," the teacher announced as she placed a stack on each of the front desks. "Take one and pass them back."  
  
"Great, another book," Michael thought, "Another book I won't be reading." He took the copy the person in front of him had handed him. Then he placed it on his desk and laid his head on it.  
  
"This is an exciting play," the teacher began. "It can't get much more exciting than this. Incest between mother and son, murder, curses, and of course, destiny."  
  
At the word 'destiny', Michael rose his head with a jolt. After the recent run with destiny, his destiny, with Isabel, he knew exactly what it was all about.  
  
"Let's start reading," the teacher said. Everyone picked up the books and began. Even Michael. He wanted to know what this stupid play had to tell him about his destiny.  
  
Towards the end of the period, the teacher interrupted them once again.  
  
"Let's discuss what we've read," she said in excitement. "Now, Oedipus did not grow up with his real parents. His real parents wanted him killed the servant just couldn't do it so he gave Oedipus to another couple in another city. Then, later in his life, Oedipus learns of this curse. Anyone know what it is?"  
  
"Yeah," Michael said speaking up, "he was supposed to marry his mother and kill his father or something like that."  
  
The teacher nodded slowly as she looked at Michael with her eyebrows raised in surprise. "That is correct. Now, what does he do when he finds out about this curse, that is his destiny?"  
  
"Runs away," Michael responded with a yawn. He laid his head down again on the desk and decided to catch some sleep the last few minutes of class. After all, he had learned what he needed to know. He knew he was doing the right thing about his destiny.  
  
"Now," the teacher said glancing at the clock, "the bell is about to ring in a few minutes. Tonight, read the rest of the book. And let me let you in on the theme. In the end, Oedipus fulfills the curse. He tried to control and out run his destiny. It didn't work. Our theme is that one cannot run from their destiny. Remember that as you finish the play – don't worry it's short – and begin studying to make sure you understand what happened so that if we have a quiz you'll be prepared. Have a great day," she concluded. And then the bell rang.  
  
  
  
  
  
Michael sat up when he heard the bell. He picked up his book and slowly made his way out of the classroom. This period was his lunch period. But he didn't really want to stick around and talk to everyone. Things were pretty awkward already. He wanted to get away. And that's when he spotted Maria at her locker.  
  
"Hey," he said as he approached her. She glanced at him and didn't give a warm greeting like usual. But he should have expected that.  
  
"Hey," she said back.  
  
"I wanna get out of here," he told her.  
  
"Yeah, well, a lot us do," she replied.  
  
"No, I mean now. Can I borrow your car?"  
  
Maria raised her eyebrows at him. "Yeah, right, I'm just going to let you take my car. Especially after last time. You might wreck it or something. The only way you're getting in my car is if I go."  
  
"Fine, then let's go," Michael said closing Maria's locker and getting ready to pull Maria with him.  
  
"I didn't mean that I was going to go!" she said slightly frustrated. When Michael looked at her again she sighed. "Fine, let's go. You owe me."  
  
Michael led the way out to her car and they got in. Maria started it up and pulled out of the school parking lot. "Where to?" she asked.  
  
Michael shrugged. "Nowhere particular," he said, "Just drive."  
  
Maria sighed and started down the highway. It wasn't as crowded as normal and there was more room then the small roads in Roswell. There were a few minutes of silence before Maria spoke up. "So, why did we leave?"  
  
Michael shrugged a second time. "Just felt like it."  
  
Another beat and Maria asked another question. "So, that play in English. Interesting huh?"  
  
"Yeah, I'd say so," Michael replied.  
  
"Yeah, I mean, it's a lot better than I thought it was going to be. Although it isn't exactly my first book of choice," she began to say.  
  
"Look, I didn't ask for someone to talk to, I asked for a ride," Michael said looking out the window.  
  
"So I'm just here to supply you with a car? Or whatever else you need?" Maria said angrily. "You've avoided me for the last few days and all of a sudden you need something and I'm supposed to jump at the chance? I don't think so buddy." Maria was obviously fuming.  
  
"I just needed to get away," Michael mumbled. A few seconds of silence and he says, "You're not the only one I haven't talked to. I haven't seen anyone else. Not Max. Not Isabel."  
  
Maria glanced over at him. "Well you can't avoid all this forever. And I see what you're trying to do here."  
  
"Really," Michael said somewhat sarcastically, "What am I doing?"  
  
"You're running away," Maria said simply.  
  
"Am not," Michael scoffed. "It's not like I'm scared of anything. They're my friends. That's crazy."  
  
"Please, I heard your voice during class. That small brain of yours was mulling over something," Maria shot back.  
  
"Well the guy in the play did it," Michael mumbled. "The guy found out what his destiny was and he left. He had the right idea. He wasn't going to let some idea control him."  
  
"Did you not pay attention to what our teacher was talking about when the bell rang?" Maria said sighing and rolling her eyes. "'The guy from the play' is Oedipus. He tried to run away from the curse or 'destiny.' But you can't run from your destiny," Maria said slowly with a sad look on her face. She looks back up at Michael. "He couldn't run from it. It found him and he ended up fulfilling his destiny anyway."  
  
"So you think I should go back and…be with Isabel?" he asked. Even though Maria was doing a good job of hiding it, even Michael could tell she wasn't happy with the destiny thing. They had after all, spent many nights and school periods making out whether it was in the Crashdown, eraser room, or elsewhere.  
  
Maria responded, "Well, if you have a destiny, you might as well accept it."  
  
Michael nodded. But he didn't want to follow it. It's not that he didn't love Isabel. Isabel was one of his best friends. Of course he had some sort of bond with her, after all, they were one of the only four aliens they knew. But he still didn't feel 'that way' towards her. Isabel was like his sister. He had never thought about her as more. He didn't think Isabel thought about him as more than a brother either. Before this destiny crap, he had noticed Isabel was spending more time with Alex. He knew that Isabel had immediately backed off – a lot – since the destiny thing. You could always tell. Isabel distanced herself from Alex. As if she didn't want to feel anything, or fall for him. Because there was nothing she could do about her destiny. Michael glanced at Maria. Perhaps he had begun to do the same thing.  
  
"Turn the car around," Michael told her. He looked at her and she looked back. Then she turned her head back to the road and made a quick U- turn when she noticed no one was coming.  
  
Maria took a deep breath. She couldn't believe she had just told Michael to go after Isabel. She wanted him for herself. She had worked for a year to understand Michael, and although she hadn't thought about him in 'that way' at first, she eventually developed a crush. And now her heart felt like it was crushed. But she agreed with what she had learned today. You can't run from your destiny. And Maria didn't want Michael to do that. Especially when it was bound to run its course anyway. Might as well get it over with was the way she saw it. Then maybe she could find time to get over it.  
  
"You might be right about this destiny thing," Michael said. Then he did something he rarely did. He actually opened up and shared his feelings with Maria. "But um, shouldn't I at least feel…I don't know," he said rubbing the back of his neck, "at least feel something for Isabel?"  
  
Maria didn't really want to talk about Michael and his feelings about Isabel but he was actually sharing something like this for the first time with her, perhaps with anyone, and she wasn't about to push him away and make him stop. She had been trying for a long time to get him to open up like this. "And you don't?" she managed.  
  
"Well yeah, but she feels like my sister," Michael replied.  
  
Suddenly, the car gave a jerk and sputtered. Maria quickly pulled it over off to the shoulder as quickly as she could. "Great, out of gas," she muttered. "Damnit."  
  
They both leaned back in their seats before opening the doors and getting out. Maria ran around to the gas tank where Michael was standing.  
  
"I guess we should go get gas," she said. "That is, if we ever wanna get out of here."  
  
"Yeah," Michael agreed. Maria went to the trunk to search for something like a gas can to use. She popped it open and Michael turned to her as she continued to search. "You know, destiny could be wrong," he said.  
  
Maria glanced up at him. "I don't think so," she said.  
  
"Why not? Can't this stupid destiny, whatever helps control it,make a mistake or something?" he spit out.  
  
"I don't think so. I just think that whatever you thought was your destiny would be wrong. And actually you have a completely different destiny. Destiny isn't wrong," she answered. She pulled out the gas container she had been looking for. It was a good thing someone had convinced her to carry one of these things with her. She looked up at Michael. She was surprised he hadn't ended up yelling or complaining about the whole gas situation. That was different. Last time, she could have totally pictured him doing that. But now he was just starring at her, like he was studying her or something. She closed the trunk slowly but Michael was still starring at her. She began to say something but before she could Michael had pushed her up against the car and was kissing her. Not that she wasn't kissing back.  
  
Michael wrapped his arms around her waist and ran them up and down her back. Maria had her arms around his neck and was running her fingers through his hair. And despite what she may have said about his spiky, bedhead hair, she loved it. They kissed passionately for a second before Maria leaned her head back, pulling away. "What was that?" she gasped.  
  
"I don't think this destiny thing is for me," Michael said catching his breath. He continued kissing Maria, running the kisses along her neck.  
  
"Michael," Maria said breathlessly, "we agreed, you can't go running from your destiny."  
  
Michael pulled away from Maria so he could look at her eyes. They still had their bodies practically pressed up against one another. "Well maybe it just isn't my destiny," he responded.  
  
Maria had never imagined Michael Guerin would ever, ever, ever, say something like that. It had never entered her mind. She had accepted the fact that her on –again, off-again boyfriend wasn't into the mushy romantic stuff. He just wasn't that open. But she knew what he meant by that last statement.  
  
Perhaps Maria was Michael's destiny.  
  
Maria stood on her toes and kissed Michael softly. This felt right to her. Apparently it felt right to Michael too. Michael felt his planet, where he came from was important. And his 'destiny' with Isabel was part of that. She had never thought he would ever reject an idea or anything about his planet. She never thought she'd live to see the day when that would happen. Especially considering that he had rejected the idea for her. She had felt one-hundred percent positive earlier, that he would never do that. "We'd better get back," Maria said. She looked at the gas container that she had dropped on the ground when Michael had kissed her, catching her off guard. She picked it up. "There's still some in it," she said raising her eyebrows in surprise. She moved to fill the tank. When she finished they both got in her car yet again and took off back to Roswell.  
  
Michael looked at Maria. He felt differently about Maria than he did about Isabel. He knew he and Isabel would have never had anything. But Maria, sure she was annoying, and quirky, and energetic, but he still felt something for her. And he just couldn't ignore it.  
  
They continued their drive back to Roswell with a new sense of the word destiny. Michael and Maria were the first to really discover what destiny could mean. Michael had tried to avoid his destiny. But Maria just always seemed to be there. And he had always come back even if he hadn't realized that was what he was doing at the time. Destiny meant something completely different to Michael Guerin than what he had thought days ago. Michael Guerin's destiny was with a human. 


End file.
